The NatWest Series between ­England and West Indies, now reduced to two fixtures at Bristol today and ­Edgbaston on Tuesday, is not the highlight of the summer. At least it better not be.

There are more important events ahead, whether you are inclined towards Twenty20 cricket or the five-day Test match. But for a couple of England players, the series is crucial to their rehabilitation.

Both Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell have been dispatched to the periphery for different reasons over the last three months. Sidebottom has been labouring with an Achilles problem all year. He is now pain-free for the first time, but he still has some convincing to do.

His lack of judgement about his own body last summer before the Edgbaston Test against South Africa still rankles. He was so off the pace in that match and Sidebottom himself should have been mature enough to recognise the signs beforehand, even if the coaching staff could not. Now he has to convince that the zip and swing that have brought him 77 Test wickets in 21 matches at a very respectable average of 27, has returned.

Despite the impact of Graham Onions, England want Sidebottom back in the fold, provided he is fully fit and firing, because he offers a different angle of attack. Moreover he displays the commitment and appetite for the grand stage, which captains love.

These are not the qualities that ooze from Bell's pores. Rather it is his technical excellence that excites, while his inability to translate that into runs at crucial moments of a match is what exasperates. Now that Kevin Pietersen has been withdrawn from the squad, Bell is probably competing with Eoin Morgan for the last batting place in the side.

Undoubtedly Bell is now behind Owais Shah (remember him?) and Ravi Bopara (how can we forget him?) in the one-day pecking order. Expect Bopara to continue as an opener alongside Andrew Strauss, who will take a back seat after these two games, taking refuge in county cricket before the Ashes as he hands over the captaincy to Paul Collingwood for the Twenty20 World Cup.

Expect West Indies to offer more of a challenge in this form of the game, a sublime statement of the obvious, I know, since their performances in the Tests were so abject.

On his day, Chris Gayle is the most lethal batsman on either side and it would not be surprising if he were stung into action by all the criticism that he has received on both sides of the Atlantic. The addition of Dwayne Bravo, mysteriously omitted from the Test series, as well as specialists Ravi Rampaul and Kieron Pollard, also gives the West Indies team a more substantial feel.

Moreover as West Indies move south the temperature is rising and there is the prospect of some sunshine. This must be a relief to Gayle and his not-so-merry men, who were so miserable in Durham.

It is also good news for John Dyson since the likelihood of him having to grapple with the Duckworth/Lewis tables again is fading.

Despite their Test victories England, minus their charismatic men, Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, will do well to win both games this week. If they manage that there will be further welcome evidence that this pair, so beloved of the paparazzi, are not quite so indispensable after all.